14 DAY TRIAL // World of Warcraft is the most popular MMORPG in the world, scoring almost 11,5 million paying subscribers every month. Out of all these people, you can definitely imagine that some of them aren't really the brightest tools in the box.
Such is the case with an 18-year-old boy from Johnson County, Indiana, who decided to see just how serious Blizzard was about the discussions in World of Warcraft, and decided to repeat a threat that he “was going to board a plane at 7:30 to Chicago and that he was going to try and kill as many Americans as possible.”
Needless to say, the teen was reported by a facilitator from an online gaming center and the authorities were called in. When confronted with the fact that the FBI seized his computer and were looking seriously into the case, the teen said that his account had been hacked and that he hadn't said any of those things.
The truth surfaced though, and he finally admitted that he was kidding around and wanted to see just how everyone around him would react to such threats. Quite badly it seems, as charges might be filed with the US Attorney's office, but they haven't been made just yet. It definitely seems that the teen has learned his lesson and if he plays WoW in the future he won't make any other wild threats to the homeland security of his own country.
Sadly there are certainly a lot of other people who won't learn anything from this story and will continue to believe that online games, be it World of Warcraft or not, are like a Wild West-like place where everyone can say and threaten whoever they want. Until the next guy or gal reaches the news, be careful about your bragging online.